My Opponent, Kerry Bentivolio

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Oct 24, 2012 No Comments ›› DaveCFC

Is Kerry Bentivolio unfit to hold public office?

Responsible voters in Michigan’s 11th Congressional district must reject Kerry Bentivolio

Kerry Bentivolio, 11th District Congressional candidate

Kerry Bentivolio, a reindeer rancher and former teacher from Milford

LANSING — Based on recent media reports that Kerry Bentivolio has demonstrated unstable outbursts while in the classroom and a tenuous grasp on reality while testifying in court, responsible voters in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District must question Bentivolio’s fitness to serve as a Member of Congress.

“Perhaps voters during the primary thought Bentivolio was merely offbeat or they were sympathetic to his standing up to the local GOP power structure,” said Michigan Democratic Party Chair Mark Brewer. “However, now we have several reports of unstable behavior that call into question his fitness to serve as a U.S. Congressman, entrusted with making policy that impacts every single American. Every responsible voter in the Michigan’s 11th Congressional District must weigh these facts and consider the troubling implications if Bentivolio were elected to Congress.

“It’s time for Republicans to do the right thing — to put the good of Michigan ahead of their party. From my counterpart at the Michigan Republican Party to the National Republican Congressional Committee to his primary opponent Nancy Cassis and to Brooks Patterson, it’s time to step forward. Do they believe that Mr. Bentivolio is Santa Claus? Do they believe he is ready to lead? Do they believe he is fit to serve?”

Before the August primary, Michigan opinion writers had called Bentivolio a “goofball” (Detroit News, July 22, 2012) and “inept” (Oakland Press, June 14, 2012). Another columnist said that Bentivolio’s foreign policy would be “downright dangerous for America” (Oakland Press, August 25, 2012).

Since Bentivolio’s victory in the GOP primary, new revelations in the Detroit Free Press and Oakland Press have shown his troubling record as a teacher. The Free Press (August 22, 2012) revealed that Bentivolio earned a reprimand from superiors “for intimidating and threatening students by grabbing their desks and yelling in their faces or for slamming his fists on their desks.” The written reprimand stated, “Most students reported that they felt threatened and unsure of what [Bentivolio] would do.”

The Oakland Press (August 23, 2012) tracked down a student that reported Bentivolio “used to ask me and another female student to come over to his house and play with his reindeer all the time and said he would pay us to feed them and dress up as elves with them at Christmas time.”

A Detroit Free Press columnist described Bentivolio’s behavior in the classroom as “disturbing” (August 22, 2012).

However, Bentivolio’s pattern of unstable behavior dates back even further, according to another Detroit Free Press story that delved into court records from lawsuits involving Bentivolio’s business (October 14, 2012).

In a 1996 court case, [Republican Kerry] Bentivolio testified to the fact that his two identities were beginning to blur, according to court documents obtained by The Daily Caller.

“I’d like to say I’m really Santa Claus and I play somebody else the rest of the year,” Bentivolio said during the court proceedings. [...]

During his testimony before the court, Bentivolio referred to himself as “we,” something noted in the court opinion, along with the fact that “he was reluctant when asked to refer to himself as ‘I.’”

According to the court opinion, this was not just something he did while in court. Rather, “witnesses testified that he demanded recognition of this persona from his entourage.”

During the line of questioning about why Bentivolio referred to himself as “we,” he noted: “Maybe I should have went to see a shrink.”

In a court deposition, Bentivolio stated, “I have a problem figuring out which one I really am, Santa Claus or Kerry Bentivolio. All my life I have been told I’m Kerry Bentivolio, and now, I am a Santa Claus, so now I prefer to be Santa Claus.” The Daily Caller noted that Bentivolio admitted to the judge, “Maybe I should have went to see a shrink” (October 15, 2012).

This weekend a Macomb Daily columnist finally said what many in the 11th District are thinking: “The only respectable response to this debacle is for the GOP voters” to reject Bentivolio. (October 20, 2012).

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